Kings College London

University Of London
This paper is part of an examination of the College counting towards the award of a degree. Examinations are governed by the College Regulations under the authority of the Academic Board.
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MSc Examination 7CCMMS01 (CMMS01) Lie groups and Lie algebras Summer 2008 Time Allowed: Two Hours
This paper consists of two sections, Section A and Section B. Section A contributes half the total marks for the paper. Answer all questions in Section A. All questions in Section B carry equal marks, but if more than two are attempted, then only the best two will count.

NO calculators are permitted.

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2008 c Kings College London

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Section A 7CCMMS01

SECTION A

A 1.

(22 points) (i) State the denition of a Lie algebra over the complex numbers C. (ii) State the denition of an ideal of a Lie algebra. (iii) Let U be the Lie algebra of 22 upper triangular matrices U= a b 0 c a, b, c C

with matrix commutator as Lie bracket. Show that I= 0 d 0 0 dC

is an ideal in U . (You do not need to prove that U is a Lie algebra.) (iv) For U as in (iii), show that N= is not an ideal in U . (v) State the denition of a Lie algebra homomorphism : g h between two Lie algebras g and h. (vi) Let U be as in (iii) and N as in (iv). Show that there cannot be a Lie algebra h and a Lie algebra homomorphism : U h such that ker( ) = N . Hint: Prove that the kernel ker() of a Lie algebra homomorphism : g h is an ideal of g . d 0 0 0 dC

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Section A 7CCMMS01

A 2.

(14 points) Let g be a nite dimensional complex Lie algebra. (i) State the denition of the Killing form of g (ii) Show that ([x, y ], z ) = (x, [y, z ]) for all x, y, z g . (You may use the representation property of the adjoint action without proof.) (iii) Let h be an ideal in g and dene h = {x g | (x, b) = 0 for all b h } . Show that also h is an ideal in g .

A 3.

(14 points) Let g be a nite dimensional simple complex Lie algebra with Cartan subalgebra h and Cartan matrix 2 1 0 0 1 2 1 1 A= 0 0 1 2 0 1 0 2 (i) State the denition of the Cartan matrix Aij via the simple roots (i) . (ii) Draw the Dynkin diagram for g . (iii) State the formula for the Weyl reection s with respect to a root of g . (iv) Show that s(1) ((2) ) = (1) + (2) for the simple roots (1) and (2) of g . Is (1) + (2) a root of g ? Briey state the property you used to answer this question. (The ordering of the simple roots is the same as that of the rows or columns in A.)

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Section B 7CCMMS01

SECTION B B 4. Let Jsp = 0 1nn 1nn 0 Mat(2n, R) .

and dene SP (2n) = {M Mat(2n, R) | M t Jsp M = Jsp }. (i) State the denition of a matrix Lie group. (ii) Show that if M SP (2n) then det(M ) {1}. Hint: Show that (Jsp )2 = 12n2n , so that in particular det(Jsp ) = 0. (iii) Show that SP (2n) is a matrix Lie group (and thus in particular that it is closed under taking inverses and under multiplication). (iv) Consider the special case n = 1. Show that for M SP (2) one always has det(M ) = 1 (and never det(M ) = 1). Hint: Explicitly write out the condition M t Jsp M = Jsp for the 22-matrix M .

B 5.

Let g be a complex Lie algebra of nite dimension n = dim(g ). Suppose that g has a basis {T a | a = 1, . . . , n } such that (T a , T b ) = a,b . Recall that the c structure constants fabc of g are dened by [T a , T b ] = n c=1 fabc T . (i) Show that fabc is anti-symmetric in all three indices. (You may use the properties of the Killing form without proof.) Hint: Consider ([T a , T b ], T c ). (ii) State the denition of a representation of a Lie algebra. (iii) Let (V, R) be a representation of g . Dene the linear map C : V V as
n

C=
a=1 b b

R(T a )R(T a ) .

Show that R(T )C = CR(T ) for all b = 1, . . . , n. Hint: Prove rst that R(T b )R(T a ) = R(T a )R(T b ) + this twice and use part (i).

n c=1

fbac R(T c ). Apply

(iv) Let (V, R) and C be as in (iii) and suppose in addition that (V, R) is nite-dimensional and irreducible. Prove that C = idV , where C is a constant, and idV is the identity map on V . (You may use Schurs lemma and its consequences without proof.)

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Section B 7CCMMS01

B 6.

Let g be a nite dimensional semi-simple complex Lie algebra and let h be a Cartan subalgebra of g . For h let g = {x g | [H, x] = (H )x for all H h } . (i) State the denition of a root of g . (ii) Let , h , and let x g and y g (possibly both zero). Show that [x, y ] g+ . (iii) With the notation of (ii), show that if + = 0 then (x, y ) = 0. Hint: Use the invariance of from question A2 (ii). For the following two questions you may use all results of the lecture without proof. (iv) Recall that the rank r of g is given by r = dim(h). Show that dim(g ) 3r. Hint: The roots span the vector space h . (v) Show that there is no semi-simple complex Lie algebra of dimension 1,2,4 or 5. Hint: A nite-dimensional semi-simple complex Lie algebra of rank 1 is isomorphic to sl(2, C).

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